ABSTRACT

Written objectives should be specific, measureable, action-oriented, realistic and time-limited. When formatted in this way they are known as SMART objectives. In addition, the inclusion of a Key Result Area increases their precision by stating the end result of achieving the objective.

Be SMART!

Remember that all your objectives should be SMART, i.e.

Specific

Measureable

Action-oriented

Realistic

Time-limited

Key result area

In addition to the above, it is also helpful if objectives are written in such a way that the end result is made explicit. This is sometimes referred to as focusing on the KEY RESULT AREA. The following is an example of a key result area statement:

“Prepare and record draft Minutes of Pediatric Team meetings, specifying decisions made and follow up action required, for subsequent approval by the Pediatric Team Coordinator at each Pediatric Team meeting during the current financial year.”

Broken down into its constituent parts, this key result area statement may be viewed as:

ACTION:

Prepare and record

FOCUS:

Minutes of Team meeting

KEY RESULT(S):

Subsequent approval by Team Coordinator

Here is an example of another statement:

“Evaluate two pediatric dysfluency interventions in accordance with Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ guidelines by 31st December 2010.”

ACTION:

Evaluate

FOCUS:

Pediatric dysfluency interventions

KEY RESULT(S):

???

We see that, in this instance, the key result area is not made explicit. The end result might read:

With this addition, the objective is now not only SMART but it also specifically sets out the purpose/end result:

“Evaluate two pediatric dysfluency interventions in accordance with Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ guidelines by 31 December 2016 to ensure compliance with national standards of pediatric speech therapy intervention.”

SPECIFIC:

We know precisely what is to be done: evaluate pediatric interventions against the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ published guidelines.

MEASUREABLE:

Two interventions are to be evaluated.

ACTION-ORIENTED:

The focus is upon an action that we must carry out in order to achieve the objective – we must evaluate.

REALISTIC:

In the context of a modern speech and language therapy department this objective appears to be achievable. It does not appear to be too labor intensive or require extensive additional resources. The timescale at the time of writing (May 2016) appears to be practicable. In sum, it is realistic objective.

TIME-LIMITED:

We know precisely when this objective should be achieved – 31 December 2016.

KEY-RESULT AREA:

In addition to being SMART, this objective has the additional advantage of being focused precisely on a key result area, i.e. it has been set in order to ensure that the Department complies with national standards of pediatric speech therapy intervention.